volume 2 | nr. 1 | June 2012

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Jac Meeuwissen: “This will be

an extraordinary celebration.

I started in 1981 at Van

Voorden, after having worked

at an aluminium smelter in

Drunen for nine years. When

this typically Southern-Dutch

company was taken over by an

American company, Alcoa, and

all of a sudden was very tightly

directed, the culture shock for

me was huge. But, I did learn

a lot from that. When I first

started working at Van Voorden,

this company was also rather

unstructured. However, I could

see the potential of the company

if it would become more

structured. Such craftsmanship,

such beautiful products…“

Large improvements“In 1994, I had the opportunity

to buy Van Voorden. This

is in fact when we set our

main agenda: continuity and

sustainable growth. As I saw

it, this should be based on

ANDUS GROUP TAKES OVER VAN VOORDENAndus Group has taken a new step in its growth strategy. On the 3rd

of May the contracts, consolidating the take-over of Van Voorden in

Zaltbommel, have been signed. Van Voorden is a well-established and

solid Dutch company that will celebrate its centennial in September of

this year.

innovation and continuous

improvement of products and

services. In the late nineties we

entered into a turbulent era. We

had to make a great effort to

relocate our company, because

Van Voorden’s former location no

longer met modern-day demands.

Eventually we moved to this

22,000 m2 newly-built business

complex in 2008. It is well

equipped with all the mod-cons

and fully geared towards efficient

production. We were ready for

further growth, because we were

indeed growing.”

Notable player“Van Voorden is performing well.

We are the only Dutch producer

of ship’s propellers and are able

to compete, thanks to the added

value we offer in the design

phase, among others. We perform

all kinds of in-house computer

simulations, for example in

order to effectively predict the

behaviour of the propeller. We

do operate in a high-quality

market, in which we can produce

propellers up to a diameter of

4500 mm. These are used in

fishing industry, inland shipping,

offshore and upmarket luxury

yachts with a minimum length

of 45 meters. Europe is our main

market. That is different for our

repair company Van Voorden

Repair, with a workshop in

Zaltbommel and one in Delfzijl.

In the repair sector we truly are

top players and I dare say that

we are one of the largest repair

companies in the world, with two

locations in the Netherlands and

numerous global joint ventures.

Within the dredging industry

we also play a major roll globally.

Our pump casings, pipelines, >>

>> impellers and wear-out parts

are used by just about the entire

global dredging f leet, thanks

to our extremely wear-resistant

alloys. And last but not least we

have our nozzle product group, in

which we excel in engineering.”

Good prospects“A company to be proud of, if I

may say so myself. And when the

“Financieel Dagblad” (translator:

main financial newspaper in the

Netherlands) then quotes Tom

van Rijn saying: ‘It is a highly

innovative company, which makes

my heart beat faster’, then this

again confirms to me that we

have found the right take-over

partner. However, this was already

Aleris Aluminium Duffel in Belgium is one of Europe’s largest sites for the production of aluminium semi-

finished products, among them thin aluminium sheet rolls for the automobile industry. Since late 2011

RijnDijk Construction has worked on the expansion of the factory, the so-called WABS buildings. A challenging

project, considering the limited space and the strict safety measures.

A COMPREHENSIVE JOB IN DUFFEL

Project manager Wout van

Brandenburg: “In a relatively small

area, a lot is currently happening.

Many different disciplines interact

and this calls for good coordina-

tion. The various schedules need

to be coordinated carefully. Every

morning we have a site meeting

with all parties, in order to be able

to do our job with each other and

next to each other. Safety always

comes first here.”

A serious warehouse construction“A number of different buildings

are being set up: an oven hall, a

rolling mill hall, motor hall and

finally a high-bay warehouse. This

is in fact a huge rack construction

that is integrated into the building,

in which hundreds of 25-ton rolls

will be stored automatically. The

steel construction weighs about

1500 tons, all exclusively engi-

neered and produced by our people

in Schagen. It is very precise work,

in which we were also able to

make clever use of the laser robot.

Because there is not a lot of space

on this site, we work with a daily

delivery system on flat racks. An

efficient solution.”

Turnkey“RijnDijk Construction is entirely

responsible for the factory buil-

dings. Not only the steel, but also

the foundations, among them 365

15-metre foundation piles, concrete

flooring, façades and roofs, elec-

trical installation, smoke and heat

exhaust systems, doors, fire walls

and fire extinguishers form a part

of our scope. And of course we are

in close contact with the suppliers

of the process installation, such

as Vollert (Germany), who supply

the machines for handling the

rolls and demand strict tole-

rances for our steel constructions.

Communication is the keyword

for this project. We hope to be

able to finish the assembly before

the summer holidays, after which

we can look back satisfied, as

things are running well. This is in

part because of our professionals

on-site, who are visibly motivated.

Our client Aleris certainly agrees

with this. “

clear to me from the beginning.

Look, I am 64 years old and

my two daughters did not have

the ambition to take over the

company. So, I started to look for

a new shareholder and on my first

meeting with Andus, I already felt

a connection. The direction I went

in with Van Voorden – continuing

to produce and innovate in the

Netherlands, finding niche

markets and focussing on

continuity and sustainable growth

– was compatible with the Andus

philosophy. Therefore all our

clients and staff saw the take-

over as a very positive experience.

Everyone is convinced we have a

wonderful future ahead of us and

I am very pleased with this.”

AN EVEN NICER PLACE TO WORK!RijnDijk Construction knows

how important the workplace is.

Besides being safe, it needs to be

a pleasant place to work. That of

course goes without saying, taking

into consideration that people

are the most important asset of

a company. That’s why RijnDijk

undertook a renovation in Budel at

year-end 2011. A new staff canteen

was created, the washrooms and

changing rooms were relocated and

completely upgraded, the personnel

entrance was moved, a new ware-

house was erected and the offices

were given a facelift with attractive

paintwork and extra windows to

brighten up the day at work.

To be honest, the facilities were

indeed somewhat outdated and

scattered across the site, with

sometimes unpractical situations.

So the company decided to move

the canteen and to group the

washrooms and changing rooms

nearby. It must feel good to go

freshly washed to enjoy a sandwich

or cup of soup in inviting surroun-

dings. Judging by the enthusiastic

responses of the employees, the

operation was more than worth-

while!

At HSM Offshore a lot of magic tricks have been performed over the last few months. This is at least what it looks like to the layman. Two large

projects have been delivered: ‘Thornton Bank’ and ‘Conwy’. Huge thousand ton constructions have come out of the production hall, were put on a

barge and assembled at full sea. The project was successfully completed thanks to a large amount of expertise and meticulous preparation.

JUST BRINGING A PLATFORM OUT TO SEA

Thornton Bank is a strip along

the Belgian coastline where 54

windmills are being built. At

HSM it is the abbreviation for

the ‘High Voltage Station’, which

was completed in March 2012.

A 2,000-ton electricity substa-

tion, measuring 45x32x20 meters

(lxwxh). Conwy project stands for

Conwy Wellhead Oil platform,

which was installed in the Irish

Sea. This consists of a topside

measuring 29x24x21 meters, a

jacket measuring 18x18x45 meters

and a so-called hang-off module,

which will later be fastened to

an existing platform, at about

12 kilometres from the new one.

Foundation poles will also be

supplied and these will be taken

into the bottom of the sea through

the jacket legs, with a total length

of about 75 meters. Total weight:

about 2,500 tons.

Step by stepThese constructions alone are

fully worth devoting our attention

to, as they are true examples of

craftsmanship. But how are these

huge constructions transported to

their final destination? That too is

impressive. To begin with, multi-

wheel trailers are driven under

the platform, four rows with 22

axles per row. Connecting the

axles alone takes up two full days.

Then the module is lifted onto

its support and put on weighing

jacks. Here the exact weight and

centre of gravity are determined,

which is extremely important for

further transport. Then the multi-

wheeltrailers leave to the load-out

quay, crawling along at minimum

speed. An amazing moment

for all those who worked on the

project for months.

Well thought-out“But then? First we wait for high

water! And at the quay a barge

is ready for us. A 90x30 meter

barge in the case of Thornton.

The trailers, carrying 2,000 tons,

drive onto the barge. Everyone can

imagine what will happen next:

at the ends of this f lat f loating

barge, an enormous weight all of

a sudden pushes it down. But of

course this has been anticipated,

as the air chambers in the barge

fill up or empty out one by one,

keeping the barge level. When the

multi-wheels are fully on the barge,

the platform is attached to the

suspension plates, after which the

‘wagons’ can drive back to the quay

and the platform can be welded on.

Ready? In Thornton’s case yes, but

for the Conwy project the jacket

was added onto the barge. Then we

wait for the towboat, who will take

the entire construction to its desti-

nation, where the final assembly

takes place. Also a great adventure,

as the journey across the Irish Sea

was not entirely smooth: a storm

rose up! This is when HSM starts

working at full speed. A place of

refuge was found in Falmouth.

When the weather cleared up, the

module was lifted onto the quay

in Liverpool, while the jacket was

installed. Try arranging all that

and finding a space for it all! But

all of that went smoothly and the

project was delivered on schedule.

Well done!”

Photography: C-power

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Mr Cuppen: “The relationship

between the bank and a company

such as Andus Group is very

intense and must be based on

mutual trust. A bank needs to

believe in a company, in the entre-

preneur. It must be bold enough

to provide room for entrepreneur-

ship. There is clearly an area of

tension here, as we also need to

make sure that the risk to the

bank is limited and the returns

Everyone will understand that a large company like Andus Group will have a considerable amount of banking activities to perform. There are of

course the day-to-day payments in Euros, but also foreign currency transactions. Financings will be taken out, but money is also put aside. Bank

guarantees are requested and interest is received and paid, to name but a few examples. And we are of course not talking about small amounts,

when we consider an annual turnover of 200 million Euros. A good relationship with the bank is therefore crucial. Mr Frans Cuppen, director

Corporate Clients at ABN AMRO Southern Netherlands is fully aware of this.

A MATTER OF TRUST

WORKING ON THE LARGEST SMELTER COMPLEX IN THE WORLDEMAL (Emirates Aluminium) is a state-of-the-art six square kilometre aluminium smelter complex, built in the Khalifa Industrial Zone in Al Taweelah,

Abu Dhabi. The site is now being extended (Phase II). Currently 750,000 tons of aluminium are being produced annually and with the introduction

of Phase II annual production will be raised to 1,300,000 tons. Thereby EMAL will become the largest single site smelter complex in the world.

Gouda Refractories has recently obtained an order to supply refractory bricks and castables for the construction of the new anode baking furnace,

the largest of its kind in the world.

This is a highly prestigious project

and an order that the entire team at

Gouda Refractories can take credit

for. Together they have made sure

that another great order is added

to the reference list. It is fantastic

to be able to work on a unique

complex in which, according EMAL

‘not only extremely high-quality

aluminium is produced, but it is

also produced according to the

highest environmental standards

and health and safety standards’.

are favourable. A bank will always

try to find a balance here. How far

can and dare we go?”

Moving from crisis to pride“Andus Group suffered conside-

rably from the banking crisis.

They used to do business with

Fortis and, after its decline,

with ING and ABN AMRO.

Then Brussels came up with

the additional requirement of

ABN AMRO having to separate

its corporate clients. The entire

portfolio was sold to Deutsche

Bank. Well... Andus Group all

of a sudden had to deal with

yet another bank. That is truly

inconvenient. You can bet that

they were not happy with Dutch

banks at the time. Anyway, after

a number of intense meetings

Andus decided to hold a ‘beauty

contest’ among a number of

banks. We applied and came

up with an offer. I am proud

that Andus Group is once more

among our clients. Such a beau-

tiful company; this also ref lects

favourably on us”

Plenty of space“What it boils down to is that

Andus Group wanted f lexibility

and freedom in financing. As I

said, room for entrepreneurship.

And they have negotiated this

extensively. I can tell you that no

other client has as much freedom

with us as Andus. But the

message was simple: ABN AMRO

trust us. And we gave them this

trust. Not because of their honest

faces, but because it is a great

company with an amazing track

record. So many take-overs, all

of them successful. It is truly

a traditional Dutch company:

down-to-earth and solid, with

a small team at the top, no

frills and with a great portfolio.

Therefore we said yes without

hesitation, but under certain

conditions obviously. And it

works, this is becomes very clear

when we look at the Van Voorden

take-over. As a bank we were not

involved in this acquisition, but

we will fund it, simply because it

is yet another jewel. Andus Group

was able to negotiate quickly with

full discretion and they closed the

deal. They acted as true entrepre-

neurs and this is exactly where

their strength lies. ”

A mountain of itDuring the next six months,

approximately 22,000 dense

refractory bricks, 2,300 tons of

insulating bricks and 3,000 tons

of castable will leave the factory

gates at Gouda and Geldermalsen.

That is a considerable amount.

To be precise: 1,100 containers!

Gouda Refractories also handles

transportation of the order. The

materials will be delivered to the

site. That beats having a pizza

delivered at home!